Beet harvester



June 16, 1953 R. HoJlo 2,641,892

BEET HARVESTER I Filed nec. 21, 195o 2 sheets-sheet 1 l n INVENTOR Roy Hojpo.

Mam- -n- ATTORNEY R. HOJIO BEET HARVESTER June 16, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed nac; l21, 195o v n* .l .N .MER e l e h@ nhl@ mi@ INVENT( Roy HO ATTORNEY Patented June 16, 1953 BEET HARVESTER Roy Hojio, Worland, Wyo.

Application December 21, 1950, Serial No. 202,042

This invention relates to agricultural implements vand is more particularly 'concerned'with improvements in machines for harvesting beets and the like.

More specically, this invention is concerned with improvements in toppers for beets and the like having in combination a support, a link mounted on the support for swinging movement in a vertical plane, a cutting element carried by the link for movement therewith and a guage shoe carried by the link in advance of the cutting element for movement therewith to guage the position of the cutting element.- A machine that is representative of the type of beet topper to which this invention is applicable is illustrated and described in United States Patent No. 2,491,203, issued December 13, 1949.

In using machines of this type, it has been found that when the guage shoe strikes the top of a beet there is a tendency for the swinging link that carries it to move too far upward taking with it the cutting element. At ordinary speeds of the machine through the field, it frequently occurs that there is not suflicient time for the link to return to its proper position to cut the top of the beet. Consequently, the cutting element rides over the beet top and fails to cut it. This deficiency increases with an increase in the speed of the machine producing a bouncing effect on the cutting element rand reducing the efficiency of the machine to the point of practical uselessness. Y

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of means for overcoming the deficiency explained above.

Another object is the provisionof means which increases the efficiency of a machine of the type mentioned and permits it to be -operated at much greater speeds.

A still further object is to increase the beet topping capacity of a machine of the type mentioned two or three fold and at the Sametime permit it to do a better job.

A still further object is the provision of dashpot means in combination with the'link referred to, to stabilize its movements and thereby prevent it from carrying the cutting element out of line with the top of the beet contacted by the;

guage shoe. l I

These and other objects of the invention will 3 Claims'. (Cl. 56-121.46)

ing mounted thereupon a typical form of beet machinery containing theimprovements of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is another perspective view of the beet topping mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View on an enlarged scale of the dash-pot unit and the telescopable arm with which it is associated.

Referring with more particularity to the drawing, in which like numerals designate like parts, the topping mechanism is illustrated as mounted upon a tractor I0 having front wheels Il and rear drive wheels i2 mounted upon a transverse axle i3 carried by a rear axle supporting struclture lli.

The topping unit I5 fol1 removing the crown and foliage from the beets is mounted at the forward end of the tractor. Behind this unit there is mounted a digger unit i6 for removing the topped beets from the ground.

The topping unit l5 is mounted upon the tractor by means including a plate Il removably secured to the tractor and having welded or otherwise secured thereto a laterally extending brace member i8 having a rearwardly bent arm I9, the end of which is apertured to receive the transversely extending shaft portion 20 of a U-shaped member 2l having a downwardly and rearwardly extending arm portion 22 and a portion 23 bent at right angles to the arm portion land generally parallel to the shaft portion 20. Shaft 20 is parallel to the transverse part of the supporting member I8 and the inner end thereof is r0- tatably received in a bearing sleeve 2t welded or otherwise secured to the plate Il.

A strap 25 parallel to arm 22, of the member 2l is secured at one end to the shaft 20 centrally thereof and is affixed near its other end by a bolt 25 to the inner end of the portion 23. Strap 25 is provided with an extension 2'! parallel to an arm 28 affixed to the arm 23, and a cutting blade unit 29 is pivotally mounted therebetween for swinging movementv relative to the tractor and to the member 2 i.

The cutting blade mechanism 29 includes a housing 30 and a downwardly and rearwardly extending shaft structure 3| surrounding a shaft (not shown) having rotatably mounted at the lower end thereof a cutting'discv 32. However, power for driving the cutting disc 32 is transmitted through suitable gearing contained in the housing 3B from a sprocket wheel 33 'mounted upon a shaft 34 carried by the housing 30. The structure of the gearing contained in the housirg- 3G forms no part of the present invention and for the purpose of the invention may be regarded as conventional power transmission mechanism.

Sprocket wheel 33 is driven by a chain 35 which is also connected to a sprocket wheel 36 mounted upon a sleeve 31 journaled on the shaft 29. Another sprocket 38 secured to the sleeve 3'.' is connected by a chain 39 to a sprocket wheel lill mounted upon a shaft di supported upon the tractor. Another sprocket i2 on the shaft All is connected by a chain i3 with a sprocket wheel fill secured to a tractor power take-ofi shaft 45. Power for driving the cutting disc 32 is thus transmitted from the drive shaft through chains d3, 38, and 35 to the shaft upon which the disc is mounted.

Fixed to or forming a part or the housing 3Q is a dependent :75 forming a part of the supporting structure for the blade 32 and functioning as the support for one end of a downv wardly and rearwardly extending link lil which is adjustable in length and is pivot-ally connected at its other end to an arm 48 secured to and depending from the transverse portion of the supporting member i3. Link il thus serves with arm portion 22 of member 2l as a generally parallel link structure by which the topping mechanism is pivotally mounted upon the tractor. Thus, in operation, the topping disc 32 is capable of oating movement with respect to the +1' ctor and due to its parallel link connection to the tractor. moves upwardly in a substantially straight line.

Secured to the standard at and forming a part of the blade supporting structure is a membe 4S which is pivotally connected at E@ to memn ber 46 and is adjustably secured thereto by a bolt 5| carried in the lower end of the standard @E and received in a slot 52 in the member lli). The function of this slotted connection will appear more fully hereinafter.

Pivotally mounted. at 53 upon the lower end of the member i9 is a lnder or gauge shoe .vhich is a fork-like member provided with nngers and an upwardly bent arm portion 55. Since the under or guage is mounted upon the standard d6 forming a part of the blade supporting structure, it is apparent that the guage tif",- will partake of the pivotal movement of the cutn ting structure about shaft t with respect to the parallel links Z2 and il and with respect to the tractor.

The guage 54 is adjustably held against pivotal LUL) movement with respect to the cutting disc stru@ ture by adjustable mechanism, including a link 5i pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the arm of the guage. The link t?! is adjustable in length and the other end thereof is pivotally mounted on an arm 58 of a bell crank 59 pivotally carried on a spacing sleeve E58 rotatable upon the shaft portion 2c of the meurber 2l. The shaft portion 25.3 is held against displacement with respect to the arm le by a pair of collars Si and E2 on opposite sides of the arm I9.

An upwardly extending arm 63 of the bell crank 59 is bifurcated at its upper end to receive for pivotal movement a swivel 5d apertured to receive for sliding movement therein a rod '$5 which is threaded at one end for reception in a threaded swivel GES pivotally mounted at the upper end of an arm l rigidly secured to the transverse portion of the supporting structure i8. The other end of the rod 65 is connected by a universal joint S8 with a rod t9 slidably received in a sleeve member T0 suitably secured to the steering post 'Il of the tractor and is provided at its rear with a manually operable crank 12. Operation of the crank 'i2 thus rocks the bell crank 59 which, through link 5l, causes the guage 54 to swing about its pivot 53. The guage 5e is thus rigidly held in a xed position with respect to the disc 32 and is adjustable to vary the vertical spacing therebetween by manipulation of the crank l2. This adjustment is for the purpose of varying the amount of crown to be removed from the beet inasmuch as the thickness of the crown to be removed depends upon the size of the beet.

Upon encountering beets of varying size and height above the ground, the guage 54 moves upward and swings the parallel links 22 and 4'! about their pivots upon the tractor and carries with it the cutting disc 32. Under normal circumstances the variation in size of the beets is relatively unimportant and when the guage 54 passes from the top of one beet to the next in a row itis generally preferable to have the cutting. disc 'andguage 5t move upwardly at substantially the same rate so that the thickness of crown removed from successive beets in a row will be the same. In passing from one eld of beets to another, or when the size of beets in one part or" a eld diiers from the beets in another part of the ifield, the vertical position of the guage with respect to the cutting disc may be varied by manipulating' the adjusting mechanism 7i: so that a thicker crown may be removed from the larger beets than from that portion of the where the smaller beets are growing.

The arms 5S of the bell crank 5S is provided with a plurality of openings 'i3 for the connection of the link 57 thereto. Under the normal oircumstances referred to where it is desired to maintain a uniform vertical spacing between the guage and the cutting disc, the link d? is connected to the arm 5t of the bell cra-nk at the uppermost opening therein. in such position the link 5l' is substantially parallel to the links 2?. and i? so that the guage does not swing about its pivot 53 upon upward movement of the topping unit. On the other hand, as sometimes happens, it is desirable in order to cut the proper amount or" top from a beet depending upon its size to cause guage 5f? to move at a diierent rate from disc 32 when rising and falling in response to the variations in height above the ground of the beets to be topped. Since the crown removed from a large beet is preferably thicker than that removed from smaller beets, it is apparent that the guage 5d must move upwardly faster than the cutting edge or the disc S2 when passing from a small beet to a large one. Under such circumstances, the link 5l, instead of being connected to the upper opening 'i3 in the arm 53 is connected to one of the lower apertures therein as shown in Fig` 1. In this position, the link 5l' is not parallel to either of the links 22 or d'5 and the guageis caused to swing automatically about its pivot 53 upon 4vertical movement thereof Thus, in passing from beet to beet in a row, when the beets vary in size, the ratio of movement between the guage and the cutting disc is automa tically varied. It is also necessary sometimes to adjust the longitudinal spacing between the disc 32 and the guage 54. This is accomplished by loosening the nut upon the bolt 5I and sliding it in the slot 52.

. Movement of the topping unit vertically between operating and transport positions is accomplished by a mechanism including an arm 'I4 extending upwardly from and aflixed to the member 22. Arm 14 is connected by a link 15 with an arm 16 secured to a transverse shaft 11 carried by one or more plates 18 supported upon the tractor body and depending therefrom. Shaft 11v extends transversely under the tractor body to the opposite side thereof and upon the opposite end of the shaft is secured an arm 19 which is connected bya rod 89 to a cylinder and piston unit 8I pivotally connected to an attaching structure 82 mounted upon. the rear axle housing` I4 of the tractor. The cylinder and piston unit 8| is preferably hydraulically operated through the medium of a pump (not shown). The pump would supply fiuid under pressure to the cylinder and may be powered by the power plant of the tractor or other convenient source.

The digging unit I6 which removes the beets` from the soil after they have been topped comprises a pair of plates 83 mounted at the lower end of a standard 84, the upper end of which is connected by a link 85 to the shaft 11. The lower link 86 is pivotally connected at one -end to the standard 84 and at its other end to the plate 18. The upper link 85 is alxed to the shaft 11 so that upon actuation of the hydraulic cylinder unit 8I to rock the arm 19, the draft 11 is likewise rocked to lift the digging unit 83.

Lifting motion is transmitted from the hydraulic cylinder unit 8| through shaft 11 and arm 16 to a limited extension member or link structure 15 which comprises a rod 81 connected to the arm 16, arm 14 is likewise rocked forwardly to nected to the arm 14. A collar 89 is adjustable on the rod 91 and engages the end of the sleeve 88 so that upon forward rocking movement of the arm 16, arm 14 is likewise rocked forwardly to swing the parallel links 22v and 41 about their respective pivots upon the tractor to lift the topping unit I5. The vertical floating movement of the topping unit I in operating position thereof is accommodated by the'sliding of sleeve 89 upon the rod 81, `downward movement of the topping unit being limited by the position of the stop collar 89.

Across the arm 15, consisting of the slidably engaging members 81 and 88, a dash pot unit 90, sch as an ordinary shock absorber used on automobiles, is disposed and the outer ends thereof are connected to the members 81 and 88, respectively, by Imeans of brackets 9| and 92 or by any other suitable means. The connection may be made by welding, as shown, or any other convenient means. As a result of the inclusion of 6 54 is restrained, thereby preventing the cutting element from moving or bouncing out of horizontal alignment with the beet top.

It is to be understood that power means other than the hydraulic cylinder unit 8| may be utilized for moving the topping unit between transport and operating positions. An extension this dash pot, upward movement of the cutting v element 32 under the influence of force exerted upwardly by a beet top against the guage shoe spring 93 is provided to assist lifting and is connected between a lug 94 that is secured to the standard 48 and the arm 61 carried by the supporting member I9.

Having thus described this invention, I claim:

1. In. a topper for beets orV the like having in combination a support, a link mounted on the support for swinging movement in a vertical plane, a cutting element carried by the link for movement therewith and a guage shoe carried by the link in advance of the cutting element for sections relative to eachother, the improvement comprising a dash pot having its operative members connected to said sections, respectively, to restrain the retraction of said sections relative to each other under the influence of forces acting upward againstthe guageshoe. Y

2. A beet topper comprising a vehicle movable overthe ground,V said kvehicle having a frame, a cutting member pivotally mounted on the frame for topping beets in their normal growing position on the ground, a guage member carried by said cutting memberA in advance thereof for movement therewith to guage the position of the cutting member, a two-part limited extension member operatively connected to said cutting member and to said frame, and cushioning means operatively connected to the two parts of said extension member.

3. A beet topper as defined by claim 2 and means for adjusting the degreeof extension of the limited extension member.

ROY HOJIO.

References cited in the me of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTs Orelind Dec. 13, 1949 

